Russia
Navalnaya warns: Putin is unpredictable
Yulia Navalnayas warns of the Kremlin leader’s unpredictability. photo
© Peter Kneffel/dpa
The widow of the late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny warns in dark words about the dangers that, in her view, emanate from Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. And has a dream of his own.
Kremlin opponent Yulia Navalnaya holds Russian President Vladimir Putin is unpredictable – and does not rule out the possibility that the Kremlin leader could use nuclear weapons at some point. “We don’t know what to expect from him,” said the widow of the late Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny in an interview with the German Press Agency. She added: “He probably would.”
It was like at the beginning of the Russian war against Ukraine: She didn’t expect Putin’s attack back then because there were such strong connections between the two countries. “But he decided to do it. He scares people and keeps them afraid. Nobody knows what Putin will do tomorrow.” She is not sure whether the Kremlin leader really has a “strong strategy.”
Navalnaya sees the arrest of several suspected Russian spies as another sign that Putin has long been waging his fight in the heart of Europe using all means possible. “Putin didn’t start this now – he’s been doing it all the time. He starts wars, he kills his opponents,” she said, adding: “I’ve always assumed that there are a lot of Russian spies in Europe, that is Obviously, this is nothing new for me.” Navalnaya rather regretted that Europe had not identified the dangers posed by Russia much earlier. “I would prefer if Europe had addressed this much more often and earlier. Then we could probably have prevented some wars and some murders.”
Last Wednesday, two German-Russian citizens were arrested in Bavaria who are said to have scouted out targets for possible acts of sabotage in Germany for Moscow. Both are in custody. In Poland, the local secret service arrested a man who allegedly wanted to help Russian military intelligence plan an assassination attempt on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Navalnaya dreams of returning to Russia
In the dpa interview on Tegernsee, Navalnaya once again announced a determined fight against Putin – and called for the strongest possible support from the West. She emphasized that she herself was not afraid – even if she lived with a certain degree of risk. “And that risk will increase if I do good work,” she added.
The 47-year-old dreams of returning to Russia one day. “I want to live in Russia. My children dream of returning to Russia. I want to go to my husband’s grave. This is very important to me. And I hope that I can do that very, very soon. I dream of it, so soon to get there as possible.”
Her husband, Alexei Navalny, died on February 16, according to authorities, in the prison camp with the unofficial name “Arctic Wolf” in the Siberian Arctic region of Yamal. The circumstances of his death are not clear. According to Navalny’s team, the death certificate mentions “natural” causes. Navalny’s relatives speak of murder. His wife was honored on Friday at Tegernsee with the “Media Freedom Prize,” which is awarded annually at the Ludwig Erhard Summit in front of top representatives from politics and business.
Navalnaya emphasizes: Russia is not Putin
In his own words, Navalnaya currently does not see a solution to the Ukraine conflict. “The whole world is trying to find a way to solve this problem, and no one has found a way yet.” There will therefore be no easy solution. She hopes for reconciliation between Russians and Ukrainians. “But Putin has put both countries in a situation where it will be very difficult to rebuild relations.”
Navalnaya was unable to predict when the opposition in Russia might be large enough to destabilize Putin. “I really hope and believe that it will happen much sooner than we expect.” Nobody knows when or why this could happen. But many people are already tired of the war. “They don’t support the war, but they are very afraid to say it out loud because it could land them in prison the same day.” She therefore hopes that the Russian people will not support further mobilization of soldiers. “If the government tries to mobilize more and more people for war, resistance to it will increase.”
Navalnaya emphasized: Russia is not Putin. “There are many anti-war activists and anti-Putin activists.” And they need “support from the West”.